Neji Sensei?
by Quirkyfire
Summary: After achieving ANBU, nineteen year old Neji decides that teaching is his calling. Tsunade doesn't think he has the temperament to teach new genins, so assigns him a sharp tongued sarcastic seventeen year old that can read Neji's mind. How will he cope?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright. Two things I need you to do. Read, and Review.

Neji Hyuga slowly woke up from within the confines of the Hyuga mansion. He disentangled himself from the white sheets covering his bed and made his way towards the kitchen, listening to the other inhabitants of the house also wake up. He grabbed a piece of fruit and a bento box for lunch, before going back to his room and dressing. Pulling on an all black ninja outfit, he paused before attaching his sword to his back. He was meeting the Hokage today and if she took offense to his being armed, it wasn't his fault.

Hiashi Hyuga, his uncle, had spoken to Tsunade the day before asking whether or not she thought Neji was ready to take on a genin team. Neji enjoyed teaching kids, he found this out when he was given a C-rank mission for substituting an academy class. He'd never admit any of that to any of his fellow shinobi however. Hiashi told him after his talk with the hokage that Tsunade was unsure if Neji had the temperament to teach young kids. Neji had sulked about this for an hour. He was a jounin and was trusted with valuable, even sacred, information about Konoha, but he wasn't allowed to be a sensei to three genin? He laughed at the thought. Hiashi later told him that Tsunade was still considering him, and that he should meet with her today.

On his way out of the mansion he ran into Hinata who, without stuttering, wished him good luck. She had finally broken the bad habit when Naruto finally asked her to be his girlfriend. Her father, Hiashi, approved of her choice greatly and Neji secretly thought that Hiashi was hoping that they'd get married. _They do make a cute couple._ Neji thought, slightly depressed. Shikamaru was now in a relationship with Temari, who was in Konoha most of the time to help with the Chunin exams. Ino had proved that she wasn't as materialistic as everyone thought and to everyone's surprise, started dating Chouji. Neji also noticed that Lee and Tenten were hanging out more often then before, and knew that sooner or later things would begin to happen. Of course, Lee had stopped acting like their sensei Gai after he finished puberty. He had even gotten rid of his horrible haircut, and to Gai's dismay had stopped wearing his spandex and began wearing more ninja suitable clothing. Sakura was still not over Sasuke, and was 'holding out for him' which caused her love life to be a complete 0. Just like his own. Neji was also reminded that branch members could also be suddenly put into an arrange marriage. Especially if they were single already. Neji inwardly shuddered, that would not be a pleasant experience. He'd probably run away. _Ha the great Hyuga Neji running away from marriage when he can single handedly defeat teams of missing nin. Everyone would love to see that wouldn't they?_ Neji thought sarcastically.

He approached the Hokage building as the sun began to rise, it was only six am but Neji didn't mind. He'd rather be here then inside the mansion. That and he secretly hoped that Tsunade had decided that he could teach, and that he could start soon. Entering the building, he walked past Kotetsu who was carrying several large scrolls before reaching the main entrance to the Hokage's office. The two guards nodded, and indicating that it was alright to go in. After doing so, he was surprised to see a very stressed out Tsunade holding her head in one hand and a bottle of sake in the other. Shizune was slightly bent over behind her and talking to her soothingly. Nevertheless Neji felt a bit awkward. Shizune noticed him and whispered urgently into Tsunade's ear, before wrestling the unopened bottle out of her hand. Tsunade looked up at Neji and addressed him.

"Hyuga Neji, you want to be a sensei?" she asked, a little bewildered

"Yes." Neji thought that was kind of obvious.

"This works out well Tsunade-sama, you could test his abilities as a teacher by making her his student for the time being." Shizune went on, "I'm sure that she'll be able to handle him, and she's already a chunin so it won't be like she's new to being a ninja. Not to mention that it would be good for her to start training again right away to keep her mind off things. Her sensei and both her teammates, what a shock..."

"Its my fault. I shouldn't have sent them on a B-rank, it was too soon. Right after the chunin exams, they must have been tired-" Tsunade said before she was cut off by Shizune

"It was not your fault, that mission should have been a higher level, we really had no idea-"

At this point, Neji blocked out the rest of their conversation, feeling as though he was eavesdropping on something private. He thought about what they had said though. If she was to become his student, he'd have a chance to refine his teaching technique on someone less impressionable then newly appointed genin. Not to mention, she already knew the basics so he could focus on the actual training and techniques. But it sounded as though her old team had all died. If she was anything like the rest of the kunoichi in Konoha, she'd be crying her eyes out right now. They never knew how to conceal their emotions. Hopefully she'd be up to training at least.

"Neji, you will be Yuki's temporary sensei. It may be disappointing not to get your own team yet, however take this time to practice teaching and find out what works well. But keep in mind that everyone learns differently and what may work for Yuki probably will never work for young genin." Tsunade told him. Neji pondered the meaning of this for a moment before Tsunade went on, "I want you to start here training immediately tomorrow, today you will meet her and...attempt, to get to know her." Shizune then picked up the conversation.

"Yuki needs a strict teacher, I think you fit this standard perfectly Neji," Neji wasn't sure if this was a compliment or otherwise, "However I must warn you, she has a sharp tongue and a sarcastic nature, make sure she doesn't get under your skin, and don't show weakness."

_Well that was comforting._ Neji felt like he was going to meet an enemy or something of the sort.

"Is she out of the hospital yet Tsunade?" Shizune asked quietly

"You know her, I doubt she even stepped foot in that hospital. I'm not sure where she is at the moment, but I did tell her to come by my office around seven or so." Tsunade replied, everyone turned to look at the clock. It was seven fifteen. Tick marks appeared over Tsunade's forehead, while Shizune laughed.

"She'll probably be here soon." Shizune said. But Neji doubted it, he was right, she was probably off somewhere sobbing her face off.

"Maybe someone should just go find her." Neji suggested, not wanting to wait any longer than he had to. But before anyone could say anything a young kunoichi stepped into the room.

"Yuki. Are you feeling alright?" Shizune asked.

"Yes." Was the polite but short answer

Neji was more than surprised. Yuki didn't look like she had been crying at all. For a minute Neji wondered if she had any remorse at all for her fallen teammates. But after a second Neji began to analyze her face and stance, to determine her mood and her thoughts. He was an expert at reading other people, which made it easy for him to predict actions in battle. It surprised him at how well she had hidden her emotions. All that he could tell at the moment was that she felt that she was totally helpless. Neji also noticed that she felt guilty, making him think that Yuki blamed herself for the death of her team. That, and she was really really hungry. Neji looked at her curiously. _Is she starving herself? That isn't necessary for a ninja, we are already in perfect physical condition. I'm gonna have to talk with her about this._ Neji looked her over again, Yuki was a blond with piercing ice blue eyes, fair skin and a deadly aura that floated around her, despite her innocent looks. She had to be at least two years younger than him, and he had just turned nineteen.

"Hyuga Neji, this is Yuki. Yuki, this is your new sensei. You will do whatever he tells you." Tsunade said strictly before adding gently, "I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do-"

"Tsunade-sama, thank you very much, but I'm fine." Yuki said, but Neji knew she was lying.

"Okay," Tsunade responded, slightly disbelieving, "Today, you're going to get to know eachother. Tomorrow, training begins. At the end of two weeks you may be able to start missions again as a team, but they will be smaller tasks seeing as your team consists only of two. You are dismissed." Neji and Yuki walked out of the room, but Neji caught Tsunade wiping her eyes.

-


	2. Chapter 2

Neji lead the way several steps in front of his new student, swelling in pride that he was now a teacher. Yuki walked obediently behind him, in silence. Walking up several flights of stairs, they arrived at the top of the hokage building. A place with several tables and chairs, all shaded by a light roof held up with columns of wood. It had a beautiful panoramic view of Konoha, and Neji knew that this was Yuki's first time up here because he had heard her breath catch in her throat as she looked over the village. He leaned against the railing and motioned for her to do the same.

"So what happened to your team?" Neji knew he was being blunt, but he wanted to know, and there really wasn't a way to soften the question. Yuki sighed and turned her back on konoha, resting against the railing.

"We were put out on a B-rank mission, simply escorting some scrolls back to Konoha." Yuki began, and Neji knew that 'escorting' meant 'stealing back', "but we had some trouble escaping," Neji watched a range of emotions cross her face "I was put in charge of the scrolls, since most kunoichi are underestimated, and they wouldn't expect me to have them, when my teammates looked more capable." Neji was surprised that she didn't seem bothered by the fact that she was underestimated. "My sensei held them off long enough for us to get away," Neji interpreted that he had died in the act, "We managed to get several miles away from Sound until another team caught up to us."

Neji's eyes widened, Sound? The Sound village? Why was this only labeled a B-rank? His thoughts wandered before Yuki continued.

"Jinkei was captured almost immediately and searched while Kouken and I kept going. We heard him scream," her eyes closed. "Sound ninjas suddenly appeared in front of us, they told Kouken that if he handed over the scrolls they wouldn't kill me. We had already made replicas of the scrolls just in case, so he gave them to the nin. They couldn't tell the difference, it was a very complicated jutsu that my sensei had created. Several of them took off with the scrolls, while two remained behind. They had this look on their faces, so I turned to run. I thought Kouken would do the same but-"

Tears welled up in her eyes but she blinked them away and recovered control of her emotions. Neji was impressed at how well she held back her feelings. But he also pitied her. It sounded as though her teammates were her best friends, along with her sensei. As shinobi however, death was a common factor in everyone's lives, so she would need to get over it.

"I'm sorry." Neji really felt it.

She looked at him incredulously, she seemed surprised that he cared about his new student.

"Its alright." She replied, "Now enough with my life, I'm already sick of it. I was there at the third part of the chunin exams, so I know a little bit about you. I never pictured you as a teacher though."

Neji felt like laughing, he guessed that it would seem a bit odd for him to be a teacher.

"I like teaching, but if you tell anyone-" Neji started, but was cut off by Yuki's laughter, his eyes lightened. He was glad that she could laugh after what had happened.

-several hours later they are still on top of the hokage building talking-

"What type of jutsu do you master?" Neji questioned

"I'm best at ninjutsu, but I don't know very many." Yuki replied, despite her efforts to make the conversation about him he managed to keep turning the conversation around.

"Have you studied genjutsu?" Neji asked

"No, but I can do it pretty well anyway." Yuki said, staring at the village.

"What? If you haven't studied it then there's no way you could still do it." Neji said doubting that she had any idea how to cast the complicated jutsu

Yuki looked at him harshly before the hokage came running up the stairs, yelling profanities. Neji jumped out of his seat, as a team of missing nin jumped out from behind her and began attacking Neji. Neji barely had time to react before he was pinned to the floor. Quickly, he activated his byakugan. What he saw amazed him. He was caught in a genjutsu.

"Kai!" Neji said firmly, releasing the technique. He was slumped on the floor, while Yuki stood over him, amusement splayed across her face.

"Never do that again!" Neji pinned Yuki to the railing his heart beating very fast.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea it would actually work." Yuki said, still clearly amused, "I thought you were a jounin-"

"I am a jounin, and I am your sensei. You will never do that again." Neji said strictly, he was slightly pissed off. He released her and leaned against the railing once more. _How the hell did she do that? I didn't see it coming-_

"You've never studied genjutsu?" Neji asked again, bewildered.

"No, but I figured out how to do it when I was still in the academy." Yuki said

"Why would you use genjutsu in the academy?" Neji asked curiously

"No reason." Neji found that she was lying, despite how well she managed to control her facial expressions and posture. He decided not to press it. _She was young, could it really have mattered? But still, learning genjutsu at such a young age, without a teacher... Its not the best it could have been now that I look back at it, but with some proper training she could excel at genjutsu..._

"I don't like using genjutsu." Yuki stated, staring at Neji. He wondered if she could read body language like he could.

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't feel like I'm actually fighting or anything, casting a genjutsu over opponents doesn't feel very ninja like. Its like I'm cheating." Yuki explained. Neji looked at her incredulously. _The point is to triumph over opponents, it doesn't really matter how you do it-_ Once again, Yuki knew what he was thinking.

"While they're under genjutsu you have to kill them. Their helpless, they can't do anything. They die without honor, and you kill them without honor." Yuki said

Neji had never thought about it that way before. He wondered why Yuki had this opinion. _Surely if the enemy deserved it..._ Suddenly Yuki's stomach growled. She looked embarrassed.

"Why are you starving yourself?" Neji asked, remembering what he had noticed earlier.

"I'm not, I just skipped breakfast I was in a hurry." Yuki lied. Neji could tell that she was lying again to him.

"Please don't lie to me. Here you can have my lunch, I'm not hungry." Neji offered. Yuki looked delighted before asking:

"Really?"

"Just don't lie to me. I can tell when you do." Neji said

"Gomen, and thanks Neji-sensei." Neji handed her the box, and watched as she carefully opened it and pried apart the chopsticks. He felt elated at being called sensei, and he knew she knew it.

"Itadakimasu." she said politely before eating hungrily. She ate very fast, but very cleanly. Unlike Naruto or Chouji when they're hungry.

Just then something occurred to him. _Why hadn't Tsunade-sama introduced Yuki with her last name?_ He was about to ask when Hiashi appeared, walking with dignity up the last couple of steps. Neji checked to see if it was a genjutsu, he felt slightly paranoid.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello Neji." Hiashi greeted him

"Hiashi-sama." Neji bowed slightly. Yuki stood up, Neji could tell that she felt slightly out of place, "This is Yuki, my student." Hiashi's eyebrows raised at the lack of a last name. Clan's had always been somewhat important to him. Yuki inclined her head.

"Tsunade has explained to me that you will teach her until you have proven to be a worthy sensei." Hiashi said

"Yes." Neji replied

"I'm glad that you have found someone to teach. The Hyuga Branch clan is having an important meeting with the clan elders, and you are required." Hiashi said before walking away.

"Tomorrow, I expect you at training ground 9, at six o-clock. Bring all your weapons," and then Neji smiled and added, "And your own lunch this time, if you don't mind."

Neji turned and began to follow his uncle, but not before catching the troubled expression on Yuki's face.

-at the clan meeting-

The branch clan sat under a long table, with the clan leader Hiashi Hyuga at the front; with several elders on his right and left. Neji sat uncomfortably, the meeting had already been going on for an hour and a half but they had not discussed anything interesting, not that they ever had, or ever would but all the same. Neji's legs were falling asleep.

One of the elder's monotonous voices once again addressed the clan.

"Now we would like to discuss the relationships of Hyuga Neji." Neji's eyes widened, did they just say what he thought they said? _But I'm not allowed to talk during meetings._

Hiashi began, "Neji is nineteen years old, a jounin, a part time ANBU and a prodigy. However, he has never had a girlfriend." Neji's face flushed, they could not be discussing this...

An elder now continued but this time addressed Neji, "Hyuga Neji, are you homosexual? You may answer." Neji felt his cheeks heat up, he was pissed.

"No."

"Are you bisexual?" Neji's temper raised

"No."

"Are you asexual?" Neji wanted to scream now.

"No, I. Am. Straight." Neji said through his teeth, he knew he shouldn't add anything more to his answer, but he really didn't want to answer any more questions.

"Hmm, you claim to be heterosexual but then why haven't you ever had a girlfriend?"

Neji didn't know how to answer this, why didn't he have a girlfriend?

"I don't know." Neji finally answered, feeling defeated.

Hiashi answered for him, "Neji has always spent most of his time training to become the ninja that he is today, he doesn't have time for a social life or emotions." Neji felt somewhat insulted, and that was not helping at the moment.

The elder spoke again, "Perhaps we should arrange-"

"No!" Neji cried out

"Neji." Hiashi said firmly reprimanding him for interrupting.

"If you do not want an arranged marriage, then we want to see some progress in your social life. You no longer have serious missions because of being a sensei, so you will have enough time to have a girlfriend. Also, you will never interrupt an elder when he is speaking. You are dismissed."

Neji nodded, and then walked angrily out of the room. He went back to his room and angrily threw a kunai out of his open window, he heard it thud as it was driven deep into the earth. He lied down on his bed, thinking about how he was supposed to get a girlfriend now. His thoughts strayed to Tenten, he didn't like her very much but she was a girl, and would probably fit into the roll of 'girlfriend'. He decided to ask her out to dinner tomorrow after training with Yuki. If only he hadn't decided to be a sensei, then he could just go off on an extended mission and he'd have an excuse when the elder's asked him why he didn't have a girlfriend. Why would it matter to them anyway? _They probably want more branch members to boss around._ But then he remembered that Hiashi had promised not to label any kin of Neji as a branch member, they would not be cursed. He had told him this after the chunin exam. _Then they probably want more Hyuga's to have my abilities. They just want me to breed. _ Neji groaned. _They shouldn't be asking about his own life anyway, he did his duty to the clan, and he didn't need anyone to run his life. _Once again, Neji's temper raised, and unable to sleep, he slipped out of his window to go on a walk at 11:30 at night.

-several hours later, around 5 am Neji's still pissed off-

_How dare they talk about my personal life like that._ Neji thought, walking under the moonlit streets of Konoha. He wanted to take his anger out on someone, but no one was up this early. _The sun should rise in about 30 minutes, and in an hour, I'll meet Yuki at the training grounds._ After thinking about this, Neji's feet automatically began carrying him towards training ground 9.

As he neared, a chakra signature radiated from the area. Neji didn't recognize it so he proceeded cautiously, hiding his chakra and taking to the trees. He found the small clearing surrounded by trees dubbed training ground 9, to find that someone was already training. He dropped to the ground and went around to the front so he could see the ninja's face, it was still quite dark. When he recognized his new student Yuki, warmth spread across his body. She had taken it upon herself to begin training on her own.

Yuki circled around the stationary piece of wood that she was practicing on before dashing forward and slicing it several times with a kunai in each hand. She retreated with a back-handspring and pushed off the ground flying over the stump and slashing the top once more. She landed on the other side and swung her hands around her back, carving the tree out with her kunai.

Neji watched in awe, he had just realized what she was really doing. As time went by, the wood became more and more recognizable as a miniature sculpture of a deciduous tree. The branches were bare, but there was no mistaking it.

Yuki finally stopped after ten more minutes, and looked at her art. She carved out the branches a little more on each side and then stood back. It was about four feet tall. The sun had finally risen, and both shinobi could see the sculpture clearly. Carefully Yuki picked up the tree and ran back into the village. Curious, Neji followed her before she stopped outside of a shop and knocked on the door. Neji doubted that the person was awake yet, and was surprised when an old bald but bearded man answered the door.

"Oh, Yuki its you. Ah, is this another one of your creations? How about 2,000 yen?" He asked, Neji realized that they were talking about the sculpture. It was worth a lot more than 2000 yen. (2000 yen is about $ 16), so he was thoroughly surprised when she nodded gratefully. He handed her some money and she walked into the shop and placed her sculpture on a pedestal before walking out of the shop and running up the street. Once again Neji followed her, wondering what in the world she was doing now.

She stopped outside of a grocery store. Neji stayed outside and waited until she came out, without any of her money, instead carrying a medium sized pre-made bento box. She stored it inside of her leather backpack. Neji stared at her in wonder. All of that work, just for a bento box? Neji looked torward the sun, which had just made it all the way above the horizon. It was now 6 o-clock. Performing several handsigns he reappeared at the training ground and waited for Yuki. Four and a half minutes later, she rushed into the clearing with her backpack. She grimaced when she saw that Neji was already there. He approached her while she placed her backpack next to a tree.

"Why are you late?" He asked, wondering what she would say.

"I overslept-"

"Do not lie! I have already discussed this with you, you will not lie to me." Neji clarified

"Gomen-"

Neji talked over her words, he was still angry with his clan, "Today, I will find out what level you are at. We will start with chakra control. Walk up that tree, no hands."

Yuki did as she was told. Neji looked around, glad that he had picked this training ground, seeing as it had a stream on one side.

"Have you learned how to walk on water?" He asked

"Hai." Yuki said quickly

"Do it." She did easily, but instead of walking on water, it seemed as though she was skating on it. Neji watched closely, somehow, she was using her chakra to control the water so that she could press off against it and glide. Neji held back his praise.

"Alright, I have left a piece of red cloth at training ground 27. Using chakra with your feet, please bring it here in 5 seconds." Neji said quickly, she looked at him strangely and then blurred for a moment before she was gone. Neji blinked. _What?_ A few seconds later she reappeared.

"What was that?" Neji asked her, confused as to how she could move so fast.

"That was basically the only reason I passed the chunin exams." she replied, handing him the red cloth, "My team did speed training for almost a year before we decided we could take the test."

Neji's thoughts were racing. Her entire team could move that quickly, but the sound ninja caught up to them? The cursed seal must be a lot deadlier than Neji had thought in the first place.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ahem, we're supposed to be training, sensei?" Yuki said sarcastically

Neji glared at her, then he thought quickly;

"Now we're going to do endurance training, do 50 laps around Konoha on your hands." Neji remembered what his sensei had done and decided to use it as a punishment, but he cut down the number of laps considerably.

"What!?" Yuki shouted

"Yep, thats what happens. And I'll walk with you to make sure you're doing them all." Neji said, the look on her face was priceless.

"You can't be serious, on my hands??" She asked incredulous

"Yes, and start now, if you don't finish by lunch time I'll make you do 50 more." Neji said, absolutely loving the power that came with teaching.

Yuki ran to the Konoha gate with Neji behind her. She flipped up onto her hands, and got two steps before stumbling to the ground.

"You need to balance." Neji said, watching her. He was mildly impressed at what she did next. Gathering chakra into her palms she stuck them into the ground, and flipped upside down once again. Her legs straight up in the air. She walked several steps, gaining the feel, and then began going faster, enough to make Neji run slightly to keep up.

Over the next four hours, Yuki stumbled several times until on her 27 time around konoha, she fell to the ground and stopped moving. Neji stood next to her and pushed her with his toe. There was no reaction.

"Yuki get up, you have 33 more laps to do and then you can have lunch," still no movement, for a second Neji's heart rushed. _Is she dead?!_ He bent down quickly and found her pulse easily. _She's faking it?_ He shook her and pulled her up to her feet, noticing that her face was deep deep red from spending so many hours upside down-_Was that it? She fainted because she spent too much time upside down?_ Neji panicked slightly, _what if there's brain damage?!_ Hugging her to his chest, he did some handsigns, and they suddenly appeared at the hospital. Right in front of Tsunade-sama.

"You've already injured your student?!!" she asked loudly, everyone in the lobby turned to look at them for a second.

"No, I don't know what happened. She just fainted." Neji said lamely

"What were you doing?" Tsunade asked suspiciously

"She was doing laps around konoha," Tsunade raised her eyebrows "on her hands."

"Oh, if it was any other injury I would have been seriously worried for her well being." Tsunade said

"You'd be concerned for her life if she came to the hospital with a gash on her arm?" Neji asked, wondering why Tsunade would be concerned over small injuries.

"Yes, something would have to be severely wrong with her if she should sustain such an injury." Tsunade said. Neji looked skeptical, _anyone can get injured, why would Tsunade make such a big deal about one small injury?_

Tsunade motioned Neji to lay Yuki across one of the benches.

"She'll wake up soon, in the mean time I want to show you something." Tsunade said, Neji looked at her curiously, she looked a bit evil at the moment and she was grinning like a maniac.

"Tsunade...?" She on the other hand wanted to get as much of a reaction out of the stoic boy as possible, so she was putting up a show.

She slowly took a kunai out of her holster, and watched Neji closely, she wanted to see his face. Very quickly she slashed out with the kunai, ripping across Yuki's stomach, to leave a deep gash that bled profusely.

Neji yelled when she did so, and lunged for the kunai before slamming her into the wall.

"Help!!!" Neji screamed before looking down at Yuki. Blood was still pouring out of the wound. Forgetting about Tsunade, he knelt beside his student. Then quite suddenly, an icy glow emanated from the wound, and it knitted itself back together to leave smooth skin behind.

"What...?" Neji asked utterly confused. He looked over at Tsunade, she was laughing her ass off. Without warning, Lee skidded into the room.

"Neji? What's wrong? You never ask for help let alone scream for it." Lee said, he had definitely changed since his genin days.

Neji looked over at Tsunade who was wiping tears from her eyes.

"Its alright Lee, I was just pulling a prank on Neji." Tsunade said

"What happened exa-" Neji started before being pulled away by Lee

"Neji, I asked Tenten out!" Lee said excitedly before continuing, "And she said yes!"

Neji's heart plummeted, now what? No one from Konoha's 11 was left for him to go out with, and those people were the only ones who actually knew him. But he was happy for his friend, and needed to say something.

"That's great Lee." Neji said before turning back to Tsunade, and glaring at her.

"Ahem... well... uh-" Tsunade started

"How did she do that?" Neji asked, ignoring that he had been scared out of his wits

"Well, I first learned about it when her team- well when she came back from her last mission. I found out that her entire team had died. But then she came into my office and handed me the scrolls. Not a scratch on her," Tsunade said "I asked why the sound ninja didn't attack her, I thought she could be a spy. But she explained that they had slashed her and her other teammates wrists, and her body has always subconsciously healed itself. Whereas her other teammate died. I did a few tests on her. Her body can heal almost any wound on herself, but she isn't doing it. She's never been trained by a medic, and she has no healing skills. Her body just has healing powers. It takes up a lot of her chakra however, if she had to constantly heal herself in a battle, she'd probably get killed."

"Mmm." Yuki slowly opened her eyes and immediately glared at Neji, he sweat-dropped.

"Neji, do not make your student do that ever again. Now go train, both of you." Tsunade said, dismissing them.

------

When they finally got back to the training grounds, Yuki immediately ran over to her backpack and grabbed her lunch. Neji watched in amusement as she began eating ravenously. He grabbed his own lunch and they both ate side by side. When they had finished, Neji decided that he was done training today, and told Yuki that she could go home. She looked confused for a moment and then nodded. He then made his way back to the Hyuga compound. The moment he walked through the front door, he wished he hadn't. Hiashi was sitting in the foyer obviously waiting for him.

"Neji, so did you have any luck in getting a girlfriend?" He asked

Neji gritted his teeth before answering, "No."

"Why not?"

"There aren't any girls my age who are single, Uncle." Neji stated blandly

"Oh. Right." Hiashi thought a moment, "How was your first day of training... your student?"

"Her name is Yuki."

"What is her last name?" Hiashi asked, this was what he wanted to know.

"I don't know." Suddenly Hinata walked around the corner and waved cheerily to Neji before walking over. Neji like Hinata a lot more once he had learned what really happened the night his father died.

"Hi Neji, rough first day? I heard from Tenten that you had to take your student to the hospital." Hinata said

"Why?" Hiashi asked quickly, Neji glared at him, but it went unnoticed.

"She fainted during practice. How did you find out-" Neji started talking to Hinata but was interrupted by Hiashi again. _And he tells me not to interrupt._

"Is she that weak? You can ask for a new student you know. I'll back you up we can go to the hok-" Hiashi said

"No, I like my student. And she isn't weak. She has healing powers, her body subconsciously heals itself." Neji said, feeling the need to brag about his student.

"Is that possible?" Hinata asked, while Hiashi stared at him, deep in thought.

The conversation was interrupted by a loud bell signaling dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

-the next day, 6 am at the training grounds-

Neji walked into the clearing and looked around, once again his student was late. Walking over to a tree he leaned against it, before suddenly realizing that there was a chakra signature coming from the tree. Neji looked at it in disbelief, _WTF???_ He activated Byakugan, and found that it wasn't the tree it was his student, who was sitting on the other side of the tree. (God, I love picturing his face)

Neji walked around it.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked, before realizing that Yuki was asleep. Her head rested on her ever present leather backpack and her legs were stretched out into the grass.

"Wake up." Neji said before pulling her backpack out from under her head. Her head hit the ground and she sat up quickly and grabbed her backpack from Neji. He raised his eyebrows as she stood up.

"Sorry Neji-sensei." she yawned

"Why are you sleeping here?" He asked, suddenly curious.

"I didn't want to be late this time, but I guess that didn't work out very well." She replied, he glanced back at her she was telling the truth this time, but not all of it.

"Alright, today we spar." Neji said, dropping his bag and beginning to stretch. She stared at him for a moment before mimicking his actions.

"What, we aren't going to walk around konoha on our hands?" she asked sarcastically. He looked at her through his hair, and she immediately looked sorry for being sarcastic. Which only added to his amusement.

"You know, you don't have to be scared to talk to me. Many students are downright rude to their sensei." he said, while suddenly charging her. She swayed gracefully away from him while spinning around, aiming a kick to his side.

"But I remember the consequence to the last time I was sarcastic," she started. He caught her foot, so she placed her hands on the ground and kicked out at his feet. "I ended up unconscious."

"Tsunade-sama has banned me from doing that anymore." He replied, jumping slightly off the ground to get away from her kick while still holding on to her other foot. But that was part of her plan.

"I'm sure you can think of worse punishments." she retorted, shifting the leg that was within his grasp and kicking towards the ground, throwing him off balance while he was still airborne. Without thinking, Yuki jumped off the ground after her leg was free and tried to punch his shoulder. But he grabbed a hold of her wrist and spun her around. Both ninja fell to the ground, Neji atop Yuki with her wrist pinned over her head.

They stared at eachother for a moment, realizing what position they were in at the moment.

_Awkward..._

Yuki remedied the situation by kicking out with one of her legs and flipping over Neji, holding him to the ground. He overpowered her and switched their positions again. This time she managed to wriggle out of his grasp. She tried once again to kick him, but he countered it with is own kick, which made her skid several feet back away from him.

Neji was impressed. He wasn't trying his hardest, and he wasn't using byakugan or trying to shut off her chakra, but she was putting up a pretty good fight. Better than he expected anyway. When they finally broke away from eachother, Neji was glad to see that she wasn't out of breath.

"Alright enough." Neji called to her. She stood up from her fighting stance and walked over to her backpack, grabbed a water bottle and stalked back over to him. He fought the urge to laugh.

"You're not that bad, however in a real battle there will be weapons, and wrestling with weapons is not such a good idea." he said, "I want to see how well you are educated in the use of katanas, and swordplay."

She looked at him strangely while he pulled out a scroll and summoned two of the weapons. After taking them out of their sheaths he threw one over to her. She caught it deftly and spun it around her back to make it lose its momentum. Neji smirked, it seemed like she was skilled in everything he tried so far. His smile turned into a frown when he remembered that he would one day take in a bunch of genins, who barely knew the basics. He glanced back at her to find that she was staring in awe at the sword. He felt the need to roll his eyes, these blades had been decorated thoroughly, and although he was glad that she appreciated them, it meant that she wouldn't want to use it too roughly. _I guess she's just like all the other girls._

But he was to be proved wrong. Suddenly her figure blurred and she appeared in front of him, bowing slightly. She then straightened and raised the sword. The fight ensued. Neji found that like most girls, she didn't possess the brute strength needed to flip the weapon out of his hands, but her lithe agility and speed definitely helped. More than twice he easily disarmed her, until suddenly their swords clashed again. The point of his sword was right next to her thumb, and she took the opportunity to press down and pin the tip of his weapon to the handle of her own. Then she quickly spun her sword around his own and pressed against his sword's handle. The katana flipped out of his hands easily and both weapons ended up in her hands, crossed at the points.

Neji stood their for a second, wondering what the hell just happened. She threw the sword back to him, and the fight began again. Yuki however was tiring, her movements became a lot slower then before, and Neji disarmed her twice more before calling it quits.

"Alright, practice again tomorrow. Same time, same place." He began walking away, but paused when he realized that she was staying in the clearing. He kept walking, but began to wonder who exactly this girl was. He decided that he might get some information about her out of her former classmates. And as always, it was easy enough to find them.

-----------------

Neji made two laps around the shopping center in the middle of Konoha before they finally made their appearance. Stalking him. Thats what they liked to do. Neji wondered for a moment if these were her friends, and if she used to do this to him too. Neji shuddered at the thought. Picking up his pace, he disappeared into an alley and leaned against the wall, waiting for his fangirls. He heard the giggling before he actual saw them. Three kunoichi suddenly walked around the corner and further into the alleyway until they saw him and stopped. He swore that one of them was drooling. Slightly disgusted, he approached the one in front and asked if he could speak with her. The other two whispered urgently in her ear and she giggled before winking at them and following him several yards away.

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" She asked standing way to close to him for comfort.

"... I was wondering if you knew anything about Yuki." He said finally. This was for the sake of gathering information.

"You want to talk to me about her?!" she said very loudly, her two friends hurried over to them.

"Who?" they both asked, "Yuki, he wants to talk to me about stupid, stuck-up, yucky Yuki."

The other two girls screamed, "EWW!"

"Why do you want to talk about her, she's so ugly!"

"Yeah, like antisocial." "She never had any real friends." "She thinks she's better than all of us!" "Yeah, top of the class, so what?!" "And do you remember what she used to wear?" all the girls laughed at this.

"Oh my god, Neji-kun, she used to wear these hideous trashy clothes-" "totally dirty" another girl said "-every single day, I don't think she even washed them!"

"Like so disgusting."

"Remember for like an entire year she wouldn't talk to anyone!"

"Oh ya, what was she, like seven?" "Yeah, and she was totally standoffish!"

At this point Neji felt awful, and even more disgusted at his fangirls. There was no way he'd let any of them even pretend to be his girlfriend. And they were so evil to Yuki. He wondered if there was anyplace he could go to get real information, but decided against it. _I'll just talk to her tomorrow._

The girls were to busy putting down Yuki to notice when he started walking back to the Hyuga mansion. Neji passed a familiar old shop with people crowding around it, several in tears. He brushed it off, and kept on his way. Cautiously this time, Neji snuck through the foyer without meeting anyone and managed to get to his bedroom without running into Hiashi. Right away, he flopped onto his bed and took off all of his weapons. He was so glad he had a bed. _Mmmm, _he thought tangling up his blankets. (I love this scene too, Neji appreciating his bed...) A loud bell rung in the distance. _Food is always good too._

Making his way down the hall way Neji stopped when he found an open door. Instead of activating byakugan he peered through the doorway, and quickly pulled back. _Ahem. I didn't think I'd be running into that anytime soon._ Hinata and Naruto had been standing just inside the room, kissing. Trying to erase the images, Neji kept walking toward the dining room. Well, at least Hinata had a boyfriend he approved of. Otherwise he wouldn't have hesitated to burst in and pull them apart. He still felt slightly protective of her, and decided to talk to her about the places in which she decided to make out. If Hiashi had walked in on them... he didn't want to think about what might happen to Naruto. Of course, making out in a place filled with people who can see through walls and such might not have been a good idea in the first place. He definitely needed to talk to Hinata.

Dinner was a six course meal as usual, the atmosphere more tense then usual seeing as Naruto was also staying for dinner. Hiashi kept staring at him, and Naruto was beginning to look quite uneasy. Once again, Neji wanted to laugh. Most likely Hiashi wanted more than anything else to intimidate Naruto, for this insured that he wouldn't go to far with Hinata. And Neji had to say, his method would probably work pretty well. This was Naruto's second dinner at the Hyuga residence and just by daring to come again Naruto had passed Hiashi's second test. Now his Uncle knew that Naruto loved Hinata enough to brave Hiashi's cruel glaring for an hour and a half once again. Yes, this was why Hiashi wanted Naruto and Hinata to get married. Neji could just feel it.

After dinner, Hinata led Naruto out into the garden by the hand. Neji watched Hiashi's face as she did this, and felt relieved when his face softened and he had to restrain the small smile that threatened to take hold. Neji felt slightly jealous of his cousin's relationship. Naruto and Hinata understood eachother so well, Neji doubted anyone would understand him. There was a drawback to being able to hold back your emotions so easily. Suddenly his thoughts drifted to Yuki. When they were atop the Hokage building, Neji remembered feeling as though she could almost read his mind. Perhaps she could understand him? No, she was too young to understand his emotions. She hadn't experienced enough heartbreak. Well she had, but her loss was nothing like losing a family member or parent. No, she couldn't understand him. He was alone in the world. _Wow, so this is what self-pity is like. I'm being so un-neji-ish, snap out of it!_._ I'll just talk to her tomorrow._ He repeated himself. Finally he collapsed on his beloved bed.


	6. Chapter 6

-the next day, five minutes before 6 am, at the training grounds-

Neji felt refreshed. It had rained the night before, and everything seemed crisp and fresh. A slight breeze pulled against his hair, and he sighed. Finally he reached the training ground 9, to find that his student was already in the clearing. He was glad she turned up almost early today, but as he approached her he sensed something was off. Yuki was crying. Neji was at her side immediately, only to realize that she was soaking wet and freezing cold.

"Yuki! Yuki, what's wrong?" asked Neji very concerned. She looked up quickly, and the range of emotions splayed across her face shocked him for a moment. Normally she carefully hid each emotion, not that Neji couldn't see them but this change was different. In an instant, her face was clear and she had wiped away her tears. _She doesn't need to hide her emotions from me._

"You're my sensei, I feel the need to uphold the shinobi rules and not show emotion around you." she explained. She had just read his mind. He knew she had, how else could she read his thoughts so easily?

"Can you read my mind?" Neji asked bluntly. Yuki laughed and stood up shakily. She was still freezing.

"No, I just understand you. Sometimes I think you're the one that can read my mind." Neji looked at her, clearly surprised. She thought he could read her mind? _Like when?_

"You can always tell when I'm lying." she said. Neji felt like screaming, she had just done it again. Neji just realized how close he was standing next to her. She had goose-bumps all over.

"Why are you cold and wet?" Neji asked, and then added as an after thought, "And why were you crying?"

"I was up late last night and it was raining. And... and-" Yuki's voice trembled. Neji slipped off his long-sleeved overshirt and slipped it over her shoulders, then feeling awkward, put one of his arms across her shoulders, bringing her slightly closer to him. She rest her head against his chest with a sigh and began talking. But not before Neji felt warmth spread through him at being so close to someone.

"Last night, Roujin-san died. He was the owner of a near by art shop, I was friends with him. And with Jinkei, Kouken, and Sensei dead, I feel-"

"Alone." Neji finished for her quietly. She smiled.

"Are you sure you can't read minds?" she asked. Neji shook his head smirking. Suddenly Yuki's stomach growled. Neji's eyes widened.

"When was the last time you ate?" Neji asked urgently. She didn't answer. Neji whipped her around so that they were facing eachother.

"Answer me now." Neji said. He knew that she wouldn't be able to lie to him.

"Th-The day before yesterday." Yuki said before shutting her eyes. Neji was stunned. Why the hell would she starve herself? Neji felt her shiver, and his eyes lightened. He'd find out later, she needed to get warm and eat. He wrapped his arms around her body and made handsigns against her back. She opened her eyes right as they disappeared.

When the smoke cleared away, Neji and Yuki were standing in the foyer of the Hyuga mansion. Neji watched Yuki's eyes widen. Most people were amazed at the size, but her reaction was a bit more than average. Neji walked over to a closet and pulled out a warm kimono-like robe and draped it across her shoulders. She tugged her arms through the sleeves and wrapped up in it. Neji thought she looked pitiful. Her hair was plastered to her forehead because of the water, and the robe was several sizes too big, so she looked slightly small and helpless. Yuki watched the way he looked at her and stuck out her tongue. Neji laughed. Just then Hiashi came around the corner. He looked at Neji, who had just stopped laughing and was standing kind of close to Yuki, and glanced at Yuki.

"Isn't this your student Yuki?" Hiashi addressed Neji

"Yes, she's soaked and hungry I hope you don't mind-" Neji began before he was cut off.

"Oh no, of course not. She can stay. In fact, if she would like to bathe, Hinata was just about to go to the bathing house. Just a minute." Hiashi ordered them to stay put.

"I feel like I'm intruding." Yuki said bluntly.

"No you're not, I never bring visitors so I'm sure Hiashi is happy to see me out socializing." Neji said. _He probably thinks you're my girlfriend._ Yuki turned pink. Neji looked at her curiously.

"You're sure you can't read my mind?" Neji asked. Yuki laughed, Hiashi entered the room followed by Hinata.

"Hinata, this is Neji's student Yuki. If you wouldn't mind-" Hiashi started

"Right this way Yuki-chan." Hinata said. Neji glared, he wasn't allowed to interrupt but Hinata could? How typical. Yuki followed Hinata away but glanced back nervously at Neji. Once they were out of earshot Hiashi began.

"So Neji-" Hiashi grinned widely as he turned to his nephew

"She isn't my girlfriend." Neji sighed. He sat down in an armchair while his Uncle did the same.

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen, I think." Neji answered, knowing that this was going to be a long conversation.

"And she's a chunin?" Neji nodded, "Where does she live?" Neji thought for a moment, he wasn't sure.

"I don't stalk people, Hiashi." Neji retorted

"She seems nice and she's pretty. She's only two years younger than you. Why-"

"Because, I'm her sensei." Neji said, knowing his excuse was pretty lame.

"You just don't like her." Hiashi assumed

"No. I just don't think about her that way. She's a friend." Neji explained

"Well, in your entire life you've had a total of zero real friends, so if you consider her to be your friend after only four days of knowing her, I think she definitely had the abilities to be your girlfriend." Hiashi finished, then stood up. "You said earlier that she was hungry, I'll alert the kitchens."

_I hate my Uncle. Yuki can read my thoughts and emotions, but that doesn't mean that she can understand them. I don't want to have a girlfriend._ He decided that Hinata would take care of Yuki for the time being and decided to go back to the training ground to get her backpack. He didn't think about picking it up when he had teleported back to the compound. If he lost it, she'd probably kill him.

Slowly he strolled back to the grounds, and after a few minutes his usual squad of stalkers were out tailing him again. Neji bristled, he didn't mind them so much before but now he hated them. Deciding to ignore them, he kept on his way but they were talking very loudly and were only a few yards behind him. He rolled his eyes.

"I wonder what he's doing." "Probably something great!" "Don't you wanna touch his hair?" "Not just his hair..." They all giggled and started whispering.

_Self-control. Self-control._ He finally reached the training grounds and picked up Yuki's backpack. Before turning around he felt a hand pet the back of his head. He turned around deathly fast. _They did not just touch my hair... _ ( I love that scene too, gah, Neji and his hair...) He stood still for a moment, glaring daggers in their direction. Slowly he took a deep breath. _I can't kill ninja from my own village._

"Stop following me. And do not ever touch me. I do not like fangirls, in fact I hate them." He knew this probably wouldn't deter them so he decided to add, "I like girls who are good kunoichi and spend their time training. Not following me around." They stared at him in shock. Then all at once they all collapsed on the ground crying. _Oh my god. Good kunoichi do not show emotions!!_ He wanted to tell them that, but felt that he had talked to them enough in his lifetime. He teleported back to the compound.


	7. Chapter 7

He walked into the kitchen to find Hinata and Yuki laughing together while cleaning up their dishes. Normally the branch family took care of it, but he guessed that Yuki had insisted. He leaned against the archway, their backs were to him. He inwardly laughed when he saw that Yuki was wearing a white apron over her regular clothes.

"So is Neji a good sensei?" Hinata asked Yuki, neither kunoichi noticed Neji.

"...Yeah, I'm glad he's teaching me. But I miss my old Team." Yuki explained, Neji felt kind of bad eavesdropping, but it was there fault that they hadn't noticed him.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been awful. Were they your good friends?" Hinata went on.

"They were like the only family I had left. My precious people." Yuki sounded distraught, but Hinata whipped around to face her.

"What do you mean? What happened to your parents?" Hinata asked, unnerved. Neji stood stiffly, she didn't have a family?

"They were killed along time ago, back when I was seven," Yuki explained. Neji suddenly remembered something his fangirls had said, 'Remember for like an entire year she wouldn't talk to anyone!' 'Oh ya, what was she, like seven?' 'Yeah, and she was totally standoffish!'

Neji felt like the world had stopped spinning, Yuki was an orphan?

"Hey, don't feel sorry for me Hinata. That was a long time ago, I'm fine now." Yuki said. Neji decided to make his presence known.

"Yuki?" Neji asked, she turned around

"Hi Neji-sensei." Yuki said cheerfully. Neji stared at her, she looked alright and he could tell from her eyes that she was genuinely happy to see him.

"I had no idea that you were an orphan." Neji once again stated something bluntly. Yuki's face paled.

"I didn't think that you needed to know." She said

"Just because I'm your sensei doesn't mean I don't care. I'm your friend too." Neji said quickly. Hinata stared at him, a surprised expression on her face. Happiness crossed Yuki's face, but then was replaced with guilt. _She's hiding something from me. Why does she do this?_ He thought about confronting her but decided against it. It would come out sooner or later, just like the fact that she had no parents. "Well, we should get back to training. Don't you have training as well Hinata?"

"Yes, Kiba and Shino are meeting me soon." she answered. Neji nodded and started walking away.

"Bye Hinata, it was nice meeting you." Yuki said politely, dipping her head. Neji pulled Yuki out of the kitchen and led her out the front door. They walked down into the grass towards the training grounds before they being confronted by a huge white dog. It barked playfully and pounced on Yuki, who rolled to the ground laughing. Neji watched them happily. Akamaru had pinned Yuki to the ground and was trying to lick her face. Neji knew that normally she would have been able to push the dog off, but at the moment she was laughing to hard.

"Oi!!! Akamaru! Get off of her!!" Neji looked up to watch Kiba sprint over to them, Shino following at a more leisurely pace. Kiba managed to pull Akamaru off enough so that Yuki could sit up, but Akamaru kept trying to lick her face.

"Akamaru!" Kiba tried to reprimand the dog, but he was ignoring him.

"Its alright, I already love him." Yuki laughed petting Akamaru's head. The dog immediately rolled to the ground to expose his stomach, obviously wanting a belly rub. Yuki laughed again before obliging. Neji stared at her for a few moments before realizing that Kiba was looking at him strangely.

"Yes?" Neji asked, Kiba looked back at Yuki who had stood up and brushed off some of the dirt that had messed up her clothes. Kiba addressed her.

"Gomen, he doesn't understand that not everyone likes to play with him." Kiba apologized.

"Oh, its fine." Yuki said

"So, who exactly are you?" Shino asked, finally catching up to them. Neji answered for her.

"This is my student Yuki, she's a chunin."

"She's just your student? Okay then," Kiba asked deviously before sauntering up to Yuki, "Hi I'm Kiba."

Yuki turned pink, "Nice to meet you Kiba. Aren't you part of Hinata's team?"

"Yeah, we're supposed to be training."

"Don't worry, she's coming right now." Neji motioned towards the house. Hinata had just emerged from a side door, and in a few moments was at their side.

"I'm ready guys. Neji if you wanted, you and Yuki could join our practice for today." Hinata offered. Neji thought about this for a moment and looked towards Yuki. She was absentmindedly petting Akamaru.

"That would be nice Hinata-chan, but I'll have to decline. I haven't tested her abilities thoroughly enough yet." Neji said. Yuki looked slightly disappointed but didn't look as though she minded too much. Hinata and Shino shrugged and started walking.

"I hope to see you again soon Yuki!" Kiba winked before running after his teammates. Akamaru gave Yuki's hand one final lick before bounding after his owner.

Neji handed Yuki her backpack and began walking towards the training grounds. _Kiba just flirted with my student._ Neji felt kind of weird about this.

------

Neji led Yuki back to the training ground and thought about what they hadn't gone over yet. _She can do genjutsu, her taijutsu is pretty good, she did well with weapons... the only thing left is ninjutsu. She's good at everything we've done so far, so this is probably her weak point._ Neji decided on asking her to do some basic moves, and then he'd ask her to show him her strongest move, and they'd start from there.

When they finally reached the training ground Yuki dropped her backpack next to the usual tree while Neji turned to face her.

"Today, I'm going to study your education in ninjutsu." Neji said, Yuki looked ecstatic.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. Neji held back a smile, trying to maintain his serious look.

"Do a replacement jutsu." Neji asked, and stared at her for a moment expecting her to do the handsigns. She just stood there. "Yuki?"

Suddenly the Yuki in front of him poofed into a log, and he heard laughter from behind him. _She read my mind and then did the justu before I even told her! Tricky..._

"You're not allowed to read my mind!!" Neji said whipping around to face her. She laughed at him.

"I'm not reading your mind, the moment you said 'replacement' I started the handsigns, then you turned to look at me." She laughed again. _I'm being paranoid._

"Alright, transform." He said, making sure to watch her closely. She did the handsigns very fast with deathly accuracy, and suddenly Neji was staring at himself. Only, he had his hands on his hips and was skipping around looking very girly, while flipping his hair back. He scowled. The other Neji pranced up to him and pouted.

"Aww, don't look like that, you'll get wrinkles-" Yuki (in Neji's form) informed him before she was cut off by Neji who tripped her. She was sent sprawling to the ground and poofed back to her original form. Once again she was laughing. Neji looked away from her with a small smile on his face, before he remembered that he was supposed to be teaching her and learning what she was capable of.

"Alright show me your strongest attack ninjutsu." He said, and was surprised when she suddenly looked very serious.

"I'm not sure how to use it very well yet." Was all she said. Neji was curious.

"What is it?"

"I have no idea, I guess I created it myself one day. I'll show it to you though, I have good control over it." She said and began performing several handsigns. Neji wasn't sure whether to be excited or nervous. He hoped it wouldn't be some kind of forbidden technique, but knowing her he decided that it wouldn't.

Quickly, some water rose from the ground around Yuki and formed a wavy ring around her at about her waist. But she kept doing handsigns. All at once, she raised one hand to the sky and one pointed with two fingers down to the ground.

Neji waited for a second, before realizing that she was collecting energy from the ground, and he assumed the sky. He looked at her strangely. How was this an attacking move? She brought her hands back together and opened her eyes, then reached out and brushed the water in front of her lightly, the liquid started to sizzle around her with energy. _There's lightening inside the water!_ Neji's eyes widened in shock, Yuki had managed to trap electricity into the water and now it was floating around her. Finally she spoke.

"Watch carefully." She gestured outward with her arm, and the water followed her movements. It floated lazily over to him, and he took a step back. He could feel the air around him tingle. Yuki laughed at his reaction, then twirled the water up towards the sky and let it splash down, stopping it before it reached the ground. She glanced at him for a moment, then sweeped her arms to the side. The water rushed towards a tree at the side of the clearing, and went through it. The tree swayed in the breeze for a moment and then creaked loudly before falling to the ground. Yuki let the water drop and sink into the ground.

Neji stared at her. _What the hell!?_

"That was the first time I've shown anybody." Yuki said, she seemed a little disappointed with his reaction.

"No, no, its great! I've just never seen anything like it." Neji praised her. She smiled back at him, and Neji saw how tired she looked.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Go home, and get some rest." Neji told her, expecting her to be happy. Instead she looked at him reluctantly and then shifted her eyes. Suddenly Neji remembered her strange eating habits and decided that it was about time he got a real answer for her behavior.

"Yuki, I want you to answer this truthfully. Why haven't you been eating?" Neji asked, bluntly like always. She hesitated.

"I haven't been on any missions lately." she looked as though she hoped he wouldn't ask anything more, but that certainly wasn't enough. Neji assumed that she didn't want to eat because she liked her figure and since she wasn't on missions to work out, she felt guilty about eating.

"Yuki, you need to care less about your figure, this is unhealthy."

She looked at him incredulously, then started howling with laughter.

"I'm serious Yuki, if you don't start eating regularly, I'll take it to the hokage. As a ninja, we need to eat as much if not more than regular civilians." He said further, he was irritated with how lightly she took this matter.

"Neji," Yuki started, trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard while simultaneously wiping her eyes, "I haven't gone on missions lately. Meaning I have no money. Meaning I can't afford food." Neji stared at her. _What? Whoever heard of not being able to afford food?_


End file.
